


The Rift Factor

by erikahk



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005), Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-22
Updated: 2013-01-22
Packaged: 2017-11-26 12:01:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/650305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erikahk/pseuds/erikahk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It looked like it’d just be a boring day in Atlantis until a strange looking telephone box just shows up orbiting the planet with three occupants that look more like intergalactic tourists than space heroes. What kinds of trouble can the Doctor put the Atlantis team in?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Rift Factor

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much sherry57 (LJ) for the beta even with all the computer woes you had to suffer in order to get this done. Next time I'll send a Rodney/Doctor combo along with the fic to help you out.
> 
> [Cover Art](http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g233/erikakobori/Shep/Doctor_Shep.png)
> 
> This is a SGA fic with some DW thrown in, not the other way around but I think it’s readable for non-Doctor Who fans. It was complicated joining both universes because both shows are so different from each other in a number of aspects. I will not apologize for the made up science, lol.

John threw the paper ball into the trash can and didn’t even react to the three point basket that he made. He went to the edge of his bed and looked at the time. He sighed. It had been just two hours since breakfast. He tossed the last piece of paper and groaned when it hit the edge of his intended target and fell on the floor. 

He stood and tapped his earpiece.

“Rodney, I’m bored.” 

“And how exactly is that any of my business?” 

John could almost see the roll of eyes that came with Rodney’s voice.

“Well, it’s your fault the Binnyans kicked us out. I thought I should bother you a bit for that.” 

There was a constant tapping of keys coming from the open channel and a low chatter in the background. “Yeah, my fault. Next time, pay more attention at the mission briefing.” 

John started pacing. “You’re saying it’s _my_ fault?”

The tapping stopped. “Hello-o? Chieftain’s daughter swooning?”

John laughed. “What? So you’re saying that _ignoring_ the hot chieftain daughter got us kicked out?” 

“Yes. The mission briefing said so. ‘Do not ignore attempts of communication.’” Rodney resumed his typing.

“And the fact that you _did_ respond to said swooning didn’t have anything to do with it?”

“I was trying to amend _your_ communication failure.”

“ _My_ communication failure? C’mon, Rodney, I think we all heard the words she was yelling towards _you_."

The typing stopped. “Words like quote: ‘my best dress’, ‘you should be bowing to my beauty’ and ‘I hate being ignored’.” The constant tap of keys continued. “I did my very best to assure she was not being ignored.”

“Oh, really?” John sat down.

“Yes, really. So, if you are bored, it’s your own fault. Find someone else to bother. I’m busy.” 

And with that the channel was cut off. John sighed and stared at the blue sky outside of his window.

“Okay, never mind that,” John said out loud. 

He got up and headed out of his quarters, golf clubs in tow. Dr. Petrovsky didn’t work in the morning shift so he should be available to play. 

John found him two corridors away, walking while he stared at a computer tablet distractedly. 

“Hey, Paul, you free this morning?” John raised his golf bag. 

Petrovsky looked up. “Huh?” He looked at the bag. “Oh, I thought you were going offworld today.” He spoke with a Russian accent.

John shrugged. “Well, change of plans. We came back ahead of schedule.” _Way ahead of schedule._ “Still up for a match?”

“Sorry. Since you couldn’t play, I made other plans with Marilyn.” He looked at the golf clubs. “Maybe next time?”

John nodded silently for a moment. “Right. I can find someone else to play, I guess.” 

“Yeah, sorry again.”

“No problem. Have a nice date.” John winked.

+++++++++++++

John smiled as he heard something heavy hit down in the gym, followed by a groan of pain. When he entered the room, he saw Lieutenant Williams on the floor curling into himself and Ronon looking down at him offering a hand. The marine took it and got up, heading to the benches and grabbing a towel. John approached Ronon. 

“Up for a match?” Ronon asked with a grin. 

“No, thanks. I have different kinds of entertainment in mind.” He lifted his golf bag. “Wanna play?”

Ronon looked at the bag, then at John. “You know I don’t like golf.”

“Something else, then.” John put the bag down. “What about football? It’s about time you learned it. You’d be a great player on our side. The Air Force needs to score a few wins against the Marines.” 

“Dunno.”

John knew too well what this monosyllabic response meant. “Why not?”

Ronon turned to the bench and picked up a towel. “I promised Teyla I would spar with her. She hasn’t had too much time because of Torren.”

John nodded. “Right. Well, I guess that takes Teyla out of the picture too.”

“You gonna be alright?”

“Sure. Don’t worry. I’ll find something.” John smiled and left the gym. 

+++++++++++++++

After leaving the golf bag in his quarters, John headed towards the mess. He gave a look around the people inside, but there wasn’t anyone he knew. He sighed and turned to leave, bumping into a small body that was coming in. 

John looked at the floor and saw Radek, his glasses crooked on his nose.

“Oh, Radek, I’m sorry.” John extended a hand.

Radek got up and adjusted his spectacles “No problem, Colonel.” He chuckled. “Just spooked me.” 

“What, thought I was wraith?” 

Radek’s face turned serious. “Very funny.” 

“Hey, Radek, you busy? Up for some chess?”

“Well, uh, no. I have to fix the power junction in the kitchen or no one will have lunch today. Why don’t you ask Granger? He’s free today.”

“Nah, he’s a sore loser.” 

Radek laughed. “That he is. Though he should be used to it by now.”

John chuckled. “He should be.” He stepped away from the door to let Radek in. “Oh, by the way, are you finished with Jumper two?”

“O-oh, yes. It shouldn’t be causing any more navigation problems, but it needs testing.”

“Since I’m free today, I guess I’ll take her up for a spin. Thanks. Have a nice time in the kitchen.” 

Radek nodded and hurried away. 

++++++++++++++++

John took the transporter directly to the armory to gear up for flight then took the stairs to the control room. He started going towards Woolsey’s office but stopped when he realized Woolsey wasn’t there. He walked to Chuck’s console instead.

“Hey, Chuck. I’m taking Jumper two for a test flight. Where’s Woolsey?” He nodded towards the empty office.

“He’s in a meeting with the anthropology department. I’ll clear the bay for you, sir.” 

John smiled. “Thanks, Chuck. I’ll just take her to the mainland then establish an orbit. See if all the navigational glitches are sorted.”

“Yes, sir.” Chuck pressed a few buttons on his laptop and talked briefly into his earpiece. “The bay is cleared for use. Have a nice test, sir.”

John nodded and headed up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. The jumper was in the middle of the platform and a quick walk around it made sure the drive pods were back to normal.

The power came on as he entered, system after system getting ready for use. John sat in the pilot’s chair, brought up the HUD, the sensors and checked communications. He looked at the main power levels reading then the emergency power. Altitude controls came back okay and so did the navigational system.

After making sure the drones were fully loaded, he opened the drive pods, checking in the HUD to see if they were cleared, then closed them again. After all the checks came back in the green, he tapped communications.

“Control room, this is Jumper two requesting permission for takeoff. Can you open the door for me, Chuck?”

“Affirmative, Jumper two. The door is being opened.”

John heard the bang of the outer bay door and looked up. Sunlight slowly illuminated the darkened bay, until a bright round spot shone in the middle. John took her up from the ground and into the vastness beyond the top of the main tower.

The sea stretched beyond the horizon in every direction and merged with the colors of the clear blue sky. John aligned the jumper and headed to the mainland, putting on his sunglasses to avoid the late morning sun that was positioned towards his face. He smiled broadly and relaxed under the soft hum of the Ancient controls. 

John checked the controls every five minutes not finding anything wrong with them. Soon, he saw the first green peak of the mainland and took a few readings, nodding after they indicated that the ship's navigation had taken him exactly to where he wanted to go. He veered the ship upwards, programming a trajectory that would take him to orbit. 

Orbit went fine, no obvious signs of problems and all diagnostics he ran came back in the green. Satisfied with the results John decided to head back. 

“What the hell?” John said as he peered closer to the screen. He blinked twice trying to clear his eyes that were surely seeing things that didn’t exist. “What is that?”

Unbelievably, he was looking at a big blue wooden box floating in the middle of space just a little above orbit. He moved the jumper to get closer and when a sunbeam hit it, he could swear he saw the words _Police Public Call Box_ written at the top of something that looked like a telephone booth. A blue wooden telephone booth. Written in plain English. Orbiting Atlantis. In the Pegasus Galaxy.

He brought up the HUD to run a scan and scratched his jaw when it just showed the readings for a big blue wooden box floating in space. Just like that. 

“What the hell are you doing here?” 

John stared at it for a few moments, making sure he was really seeing it and not some hallucination then moved the jumper to get closer. He closed the hatch to the rear section and began decompressing it with the intention of bringing the object aboard and taking it to Rodney so he could tell exactly what it was doing orbiting the planet. 

Once it was secure, John took another reading to make sure he wasn’t taking anything dangerous back to Atlantis and then began his descent back to the city.

*************

“What the hell?”

John tapped the outside of the box. “Told ya.”

Rodney stepped into the jumper with scanner in hand. “No readings.” He looked at the small screen then back up. “Huh? What is it doing here?”

“That’s what I asked.” 

“Gentlemen.”

John and Rodney both looked back and saw Woolsey walking up the ramp and into the jumper. 

“What do we have here?”

“Dunno.” John pointed at the object. “Just found it floating around space.”

“And how did it end up here?” Woolsey circled the blue box.

John shrugged. “Maybe some passing ship decided the retro look didn’t fit in and threw some of their decor out.”

Woolsey stopped by what looked like the door. “It’s written in English.”

“Yes, we noticed.” Rodney said in a bit of an acerbic tone. 

“Pull to open.” Woolsey pointed at the white sign then tried the handle on the door. “It’s locked.” 

“Mmm, maybe we can pick the lock.” Rodney said as he took more readings with the scanner. “See if there’s anything inside. Though by the looks of it, it might just be just space junk,” he said without lifting his head.

All heads snapped up when the noise of the door unlocking was heard. John went for his sidearm instinctively, took a step backwards and advised Rodney and Woolsey to do the same. When the door opened, a head peered from inside, looked around, grinned and a man dressed in period clothes stepped outside with a wide smile on his face. A red haired woman in a miniskirt and another man, this one dressed in jeans and a polo shirt, followed out, bewilderment in their eyes. They didn’t appear to be armed or hostile but John kept both hands holding his 9mil down and tapped his earpiece three times to signal security to converge on his position.

“Hello there!” The man wearing a tweed jacket said. “I’m the Doctor.” He said in a British accent. “These are the Ponds. Amy and Rory.” The girl smiled and the guy was trying to appear pleasant but lacked the confidence of the other two. 

Woolsey blinked. “H-Hello.” 

“Sorry, did we show up at a bad time?” The so-called Doctor looked around. “I know, just popped out from nowhere. But that’s normal. It’s how we travel.” He leaned on the outside of the telephone booth and caressed it. “That’s how she rolls.” He grinned. “And if I may say so, your ship also looks very nice. Very sort of futuristic civilization meets military.” He began moving around. “Never seen this kind of technology before. We must be really far away from our own universe.” He looked at his two companions. “Nice, isn’t it?” He grinned. “I mean, in a sort of possibly problematic interdimentional travel, spacy-wacey, no power to get back sort of way.” He looked back at Woolsey. “And who might you be?”

Woolsey stepped forward. “I’m Richard Woolsey, leader of the Atlantis Expedition. This is Colonel Sheppard, the Military Commander, and Doctor Rodney McKay, Chief Scientist.” 

“Nice to meet you!” The Doctor shook their hands energetically. “An expedition! I love expeditions!” He looked behind at his companions then back at Woolsey. “Are we in deep space?” 

“Uh, sorry, but who exactly are you and what were you doing inside a wooden box?” Rodney interrupted. “And how the hell didn’t you die since this doesn’t exactly look air tight?”

The man, who appeared to be constantly in the setting of energetic and grinning, twirled all the way around to look at Rodney instead of just turning his head. “Oh, you mean the TARDIS?” He pointed at the box. “It’s my space ship. It just looks like wood.” He knocked it a few times. “It’s a disguise.”

Rodney stared condescendingly. “It still sounds, feels and reads as wood.” He lifted his scanner. 

The Doctor grinned. “Yes, isn’t it amazing?”

“Uh, actually,” the other man interrupted with a lifted finger. “It’s _supposed_ to blend in with the environment, but the circuit is broken so it constantly looks like a Police Box.” He gave the Doctor a look.

“Yes, that’s what I was going to say. Like a… a cloak.” He clapped his hands. “Now that we have that out of the way, what about we explore a bit. That’s what we do. Exploring.” He looked up and lost focus for a moment then turned his head down as he chew on his lips. “Though maybe our priority should be getting her running first.” He pointed at his ‘ _ship_ ’. “No power. That usually happens when we are dragged to another universe.” He stroked its side. “Poor thing. Always gets indigestion in these circumstances. Can’t stomach the fuel here. It’s not compatible with the way she travels.” He looked at Woolsey. “Maybe you could help? It looks like your people know a bit about space travel. I’ll need to take some readings of the spot around where we materialized, see if there’s any trace of the rift that brought us here. See if we can get a lift back to our own universe.” 

John was breathless just listening to the guy speak. He could give Rodney a run for his money but not without fierce competition on who spoke more gibberish at a faster speed.

“Oh, hello there!” The Doctor waved and stepped forward. “I’m the Doctor. We’re visitors from another universe.”

Lorne looked at John with an inquiring face. “Sir?”

“You can relax, we’re not armed.” He smiled and raised his hands in a non-threatening way. 

Rodney lowered his scanned. “He’s telling the truth.”

John reholstered his gun but Lorne and the Marines kept hands on the P90s. 

“You’re from Earth, all of you.” The Doctor span and twirled around looking at the arm patches. “United States, Canada, Germany, more United States… where’s Britain?”

“Or Scotland?” the girl asked.

“Britain, Amy. I guess that was implied in the Britain bit,” the other one whispered. 

“No. Scotland needs to have their own patch.” She crossed her arms. 

Woolsey cleared his throat. “And they do.”

“Aha! Knew it!” She smiled.

“So you’re all British?” Woolsey asked.

“Yes, _they_ are.” He pointed at his two companions. “I’m sort of from everywhere.” 

“Okay, Doctor. Before we can help you there are certain procedures that need to take place. Don’t worry, it’s all standard protocol.”

At the mention of _protocol_ , the Doctor made a face that clearly indicated he wasn’t very fond of the word. 

“We need to have you examined by our own doctors to make sure you are not carrying any harmful diseases, infections or parasites that could infect our people. I’m sure an explorer like you must understand.” Woolsey laughed uncomfortably. “I’m sure you have protocols like this yourself.” 

Amy and Rory failed to suppress a snort of laughter.

“Sorry, Mister Woolsey, I don’t. And I’m not carrying any germs either.” He opened his arms to show how unthreatening he was. 

“Sorry, Doctor. But you cannot enter our city without being scanned first.”

The Doctor sighed. “Fine,” he said, very much like a petulant child being told off.

Woolsey smiled. “Very well. Just follow these fine gentlemen.” He indicated the Marines. 

The trio started walking behind Lorne and two of his men while John took their six. Woolsey came along and Rodney stayed behind with the ship along with Sergeants Ferreira and Silverman. 

“So, Doctor…” Woolsey began.

“Just Doctor. That’s my name.” John couldn’t see his face but could still hear the grin constantly plastered there. 

“Oh. I’m sorry, I just assumed it was a title.”

“Yes, and my name too.”

John raised an eyebrow. Doctor Doctor? 

“Oh, right.”

For someone that was supposed to be a lawyer, Woolsey wasn’t the best conversationalist. Fortunately for him, the Doctor spoke enough for all of them plus more.

“You have the most amazing city. It doesn’t look like it’s yours though. Your laptops and machine guns don’t really match all the glass and crystals going around. Your ship looked prime, but was equipped with pretty terrestrial technology. I’d say early 21st century. Am I right?”

“How perceptive of you.” Woolsey said as he opened the transporter doors.

“A lift?” the Doctor asked.

Woolsey nodded. “We’ll need two trips,” he told Lorne who went in first. Woolsey stepped back and invited the Doctor in then followed. 

John signaled Lieutenant Barros to go with them and waited till the transporter cleared. He stepped in with the other two visitors and Lieutenant Simms then soon entered the infirmary, right behind the others that had gone first.

“This is our Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Jennifer Keller,” Woolsey was saying as John approached. 

“Welcome to Atlantis,” Keller said. She turned to Woolsey. “I was not aware we had any guests today.”

“Sorry,” The Doctor said. “We are kind of unexpected guests. I’m the Doctor and these are Amy and Rory. We were told we had to be examined before we can walk into your beautiful city.”

Keller nodded. “That’s the deal. So, if you please.” She stepped aside and invited the Doctor in. “It’ll just be a simple physical exam then we’ll scan your bodies. You won’t feel a thing.”

The Doctor hopped into a bed and started swinging his legs like a child would. His two companions approached a bit shyly then followed the nurses to two other beds. 

“Marie, could you call Carson, please?” Jennifer asked as she took her stethoscope from around her neck.

“Of course, Doctor.”

Jennifer placed the stethoscope on the Doctor’s chest then frowned after a few seconds. She moved it very slightly around, her frown deepening. The Doctor looked down then back up at her and moved the stethoscope to the far left of his own chest. Both of her eyebrows shot up and stayed there for several moments until the Doctor grabbed her hand and moved the stethoscope to the far right. She removed the tool from her ears faster than she normally would, her face intrigued. 

“Doctor? Any problem?” Woolsey asked.

Keller turned to look at Carson that was coming in and handed him the stethoscope. 

“Listen to this,” she said.

The Doctor grinned and turned to look at everybody’s face. Carson approached him and repeated the very same scene as Keller, down to the raised eyebrows. 

“Son, you’ve got two hearts!” He said in a heavy Scottish accent. 

“Yes, I do. And no, I’m not human.” 

“How?”

“I’m a Time Lord. That’s the species. I look like a human but I’m a bit different on the inside.”

John had seen a lot of weird stuff since coming to Pegasus but a man with two hearts was new. But then so was a group of people that traveled around space inside a wooden box. 

“A binary vascular system!” Carson exclaimed.

“What would happen if one of them went into cardiac arrest?” Keller asked.

“Well,” he started. “First of all, it would hurt. A lot. It happened to me once. Not a pleasant experience I must say.” 

“I can imagine, son.” Carson placed the stethoscope back in his ears and gave the hearts another listen. He then placed it on his back and told him to inhale and exhale. “At least your lungs are in the same place a human’s.” 

Keller placed the cuffs then began taking his temperature. John watched as the two doctors amused themselves taking vitals and discussing the various implications that the different physiology would have in a person. Apparently, Time Lords were stronger and had better reflexes than simple humans. 

That left Amy and Rory waiting until Keller and Carson were finished with the Doctor to get their exams done, but their physicals were faster since they were just plain humans. 

“Okay,” Carson said as he patted Amy on the leg. “It seems you are in perfect health, my love.”

“Thank you.” She smiled. “And I’m really glad that we got our own flag,” she whispered as she jumped down from the bed. 

Carson chuckled. “But of course we do, dear.” He smiled. “Now, let’s take you all to the scanner. Doctor Keller is getting it prepped.”

They all walked to the next room, except for the Doctor who kind of bounced and sauntered. John was beginning to think he wasn’t very right in the head. Keller patted on the bed under the scanner and the Doctor strolled closer looking at it with curiosity. John frowned as the Doctor extracted a probe looking thing from his jacket and began waving it around. A green light flashed and it began making a buzzing kind of noise. 

“What is that?” John asked intrigued, wondering if it was dangerous.

The Doctor twirled around. “Oh, this? It’s my sonic screwdriver. I use it to do… sonic stuff.” He grinned and looked at it. He nodded. “Yes, that’s a scanner. A really advanced scanner.” He frowned a bit and turned to look at the Ancient device. “How did you get that?” He turned and started looking around, his eyes darting everywhere. “Nothing in this place makes sense. You’ve got old looking weaponry, tac vests and laptops,” he said as he waved at the marines. “Your medicines, doctors and nurses all match with ordinary early 21st century parlance, but you’re living in a place with clearly more technology than that.” He slowed down a bit. “You’re using a technology that isn’t yours. Did you walk in here and take it?” He raised his head and looked down at them. “What happened to the people that owned this place?” 

John was impressed with the Doctor’s observing skills. Most races that came to Atlantis assumed this was their own technology and that they were Ancients. The only ones that didn’t jump to that conclusion were part of a more advanced civilization. Given the fact that this Doctor seemed to really know a lot about Earth, a lot more than anyone they had ever encountered before in Pegasus, and that he hinted that they had accidentally come from a parallel universe maybe it was just a matter of time before they began either cooperating or fighting each other. John preferred the first.

And apparently so did Woolsey.

“This city belonged to the Ancients as we call them. One of the oldest and mightiest civilizations to inhabit the stars, but they are all gone now. They left all this around here as a legacy for when the human race became advanced enough to use it.”

“Oldest and mightiest…” the Doctor said softly. “And you walked in and made it your base?”

Woolsey nodded. “We had been exploring our own galaxy for almost a decade when we found the address for the lost city of the Ancients. We made an expedition to find it and explore the galaxy it inhabits. The Pegasus Galaxy.” 

“So we’re not in the Milky Way then.” 

“Who are you?” John asked.

He smiled. “I told you, I’m the Doctor.”

“We like to know who exactly we let into our city.” John smiled slightly. “For security purposes.”

The Doctor nodded. “Very well. Since we are sharing stories.” He looked at everyone around then back at John. “I’m a Time Lord.” His smile faded. “Where I come from, _Time Lords_ were the oldest and mightiest race to ever inhabit the universe. To ever inhabit the multiverse. Billions of years of history. We came as far as the Ancients in your universe and beyond. Way beyond.” He smiled. “Some legends say we invented time itself. But that isn’t actually true.” He turned serious, his look back at everyone in the room. “But we did come from almost the same place. Or the same moment.” He raised his head. “That’s why we are called Time Lords. The Lords of Time. I live throughout time and I can feel its waves as humans can feel the waves of the ocean.”

“Why do you travel with humans instead of your own race?” Woolsey asked.

The Doctor’s eyes turned somber. “Because they are all gone now. Much like your Ancients. I’m the last one left.”

“And why don’t you join them?”

“I’m sorry?”

Woolsey cleared his throat. “I’m assuming they have ascended too. An advanced civilization like yours must have reached that peak of evolution. Like the Ancients did. Ascend to a higher plane of existence and live as pure energy.” 

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. He looked down and John could see a crack in the façade that only lasted a second. When he raised his head again he was already recomposed. “They didn’t. They didn’t have time.” 

Woolsey shook his head. “But how?” The Doctor looked away impatiently but Woolsey continued. “If they were so old and powerful surely they must have had time to work it out.”

The Doctor turned back, his face dark. “And that’s all I’m gonna say. Now,” He looked back to the rest of them, his face immediately lighting up with a smile. “Are you going to help me get back to my universe or not?”

Woolsey looked at John who tapped his earpiece in turn. 

“Rodney, what have you found out?”

“You could give me more than just a few minutes!” came Rodney’s exasperated voice over the comm.

“Rodney!” John almost growled back.

Rodney puffed. “I don’t know what that thing is but I was able to pick up a very faint energy signature coming from it. Like that guy said it’s not doing much. The signature is too faint to indicate any level of activity.”

“Okay, what else?”

“What else!? Hey, what more do you expect?”

John sighed. “Rodney…”

“Fine!” Rodney exhaled. “I asked Radek to take some readings from orbit. Luckily, Chuck was monitoring your flight test. There was a definite spike of some kind of energy at the exact same spot you saw the blue box in. It’s remarkably similar to a parallel universe jump.”

“So, he did come from a parallel universe,” John said as he looked at Woolsey.

“It appears so. I still don’t know how this spaceship is supposed to work though.”

The Doctor approached John. “Ask him if he can detect anything still going on in orbit.”

“Rodney--"

“Yes, I heard that.” Rodney cut through. “And yes, there is. The reading is still there. Faint but present.”

“Yes-yes,” John heard a familiar Czech voice yelling at the other side of the channel. “It’s more like a rift.”

“Shut up, Radek, I’m speaking here! And it’s not like a rift. It’s more like a…” John heard snapping fingers. “a-a-a…” More snapping fingers. “a-a…” He puffed loudly. “Yes, Radek!” He yelled. “A rift!” he admitted grudgingly. 

“Okay,” John smiled. “So that’s good news, right?”

“Yes, we, or better yet, _I_ can probably send him right back using the readings I took from the parallel universe Daedalus.”

“Okay. Keep working.” John tapped his earpiece and closed the channel. 

“So?” The Doctor asked.

“Yes, McKay said he can help,” John answered turning his look from the Doctor to Woolsey. 

“Okay then!” The Doctor clapped his hands and began rubbing them together.

===============

“So, Doctor McKay, what have you found out about that spaceship?” Woolsey asked as he sat behind his desk.

Rodney sighed. “Not much more than I had already reported. All readings show that it is just a blue wooden box that happens to give off a very faint base energy reading. It’s so faint that it doesn’t appear on scanners. I had to tweak it in order to show readings even in the smallest scale.” He crossed his arms. “We tried everything short of Ronon’s gun but the door still won’t open.”

“You’re telling me you can’t open a simple lock?” John teased.

“It may look simple, but I’m telling you, there’s something about it that won’t let anything open it. If what the Doctor said is true, then it must be extremely advanced technology. Either that or he’s just… really plain nuts.”

“Maybe he’s both…” John shrugged.

“But he _is_ telling the truth, is he not? You said that the energy reading around the area where John saw his ship is similar to the readings you get from jumping through universes,” Teyla said.

John smiled and placed his hands on his hips as he turned his look at Rodney.

“Yes, and there is some of it around his-- _ship_ too.” John could hear the imaginary quotes all over Rodney’s voice when he said it. “And they were definitely inside it as we saw, which means it can sustain vacuum without killing its occupants.”

Woolsey turned to look at Doctor Keller. “Doctor, what about your findings?”

“Well… During my physical exam, Carson and I were able to determine that he is basically very similar to humans except for the obvious binary vascular system, which is really fascinating. I can’t say more because the scanner just happened to stop working just after I took Amy and Rory’s readings, but right before it was the Doctor’s turn.”

John bit his lip. “That’s quite a coincidence, don’t you think?” 

“I have to agree with you,” Keller answered.

“And what did he have to say about that?” Woolsey asked.

“He grinned and said it was very unfortunate.”

Rodney rolled his eyes. “He’s definitely got some screws missing.” 

Teyla shook her head. “But why would he sabotage the scanner?”

“When we were examining them in the infirmary, he said that his people were very advanced, even more so than the Ancients but he refused to go into detail about it. He also refused to give away information about his physiology,” Keller answered.

“And if that is true, then we know how these advanced people that think they are better than everyone else are a bit touchy about giving away information about themselves.” Rodney crossed his arms. “Great!”

“But he seems genuinely trustworthy,” Woolsey observed. “They are not even armed.”

“Lorne and his men searched them,” John confirmed. “The only thing he’s got is that sonic screwdriver thingy.”

Rodney’s face turned incredulous. “A sonic screwdriver? Seriously?”

“We saw him use it in the infirmary. He used it to take readings on the Ancient tech,” Keller cut in.

“Then it’s a scanner, not a screwdriver!” Rodney said condescendingly. 

“Either way, he refused to give it away. Said it was harmless,” John completed. “He’s now under close observation by a half dozen Marines in the ‘ _waiting_ ’ area.”

“Okay.” Woolsey interlaced his fingers on the desk. “Given the fact that he hasn’t tried to do any harm to us and that the readings that Doctor McKay himself took seems to corroborate his story, I say we should help them get back to their own reality as soon as possible.”

“The sooner he’s gone the better,” John summarized. 

“Exactly,” Woolsey confirmed.

“All right, I’m fine with that. Rodney?” John looked at him.

“I’ll have to talk to him in person to figure out a few things and try to work out the best way to send him back.”

Woolsey nodded. “Colonel Sheppard will take you to him. Keep me posted on your findings.”

They all nodded and left the office, walking towards the closest transporter.

“You do not seem to believe in him, do you, Rodney?” Teyla said.

Rodney sighed. “It’s not that. It’s just…” He shook his head. “Really? _Wood_?”

“He said it’s not really wood,” John reminded.

“Yes, but of all disguises? I mean, if it’s true then it’s really amazing craftsmanship, but until I see it with my own eyes, I’ll reserve my right to remain skeptical. He just looks a bit…”

“Crazy?” John finished. 

“Yeah!”

Keller laughed. “With all the mad flailing hands and twirling around in a constant state of excitement, I find him… really fun to be around actually. And he’s not bad looking either.” She looked teasingly at Rodney.

Rodney suddenly looked hurt. “Y-you really think so?”

She smiled. “Yeah. A bit.”

Rodney grumbled. 

“And he appears to be quite smart too.” John smirked. “Hey, maybe he’s more intelligent than you are!”

“Har har. Very funny. As if that was possible.”

They all laughed as they left the transporter near the observation room.

“Major?” John prompted as he entered the observation area overlooking the room.

Major Lorne turned around. “Colonel.”

John looked down and saw the Doctor walking around the walls of the room, looking really bored. Rory was sitting on a chair and Amy on the table with her arms crossed.

“They just stayed like that the whole time. Chatted a bit about going back home.”

“Anything important?”

“Not really.”

“Okay.” John turned to Rodney. “Let’s go talk to them.”

John went down the stairs with Rodney, greeted the Lieutenant guarding the door and entered. All three faces turned towards them, standing up and approaching.

“So? What’s the word?” the Doctor asked.

“Before I can help you, there are a few questions I need answers to,” Rodney started.

“Okay. Shoot.” The Doctor smiled. “Not literally, of course,” he added as he looked at John.

“You said that your ship’s fuel is not compatible with this universe. Why?”

“Well, the TARDIS, that’s her name, uses a kind of energy specific to our universe. In order to be able to make her fly here, I’d have to refuel using energy from this universe. In order to do that I’d need to find a source here. But then when we get back it won’t fly in that universe because it’s fueled to fly in this one.” 

“What kind of energy?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t know.” 

Rodney crossed his arms. “Try me!”

“Artron energy.”

“And what’s that?” Rodney asked condescendingly. 

“It’s the sort of energy that allows the TARDIS to travel through the Time Vortex which is like… the space you fly, but smaller and more compact.”

Rodney nodded. “I know, subspace.” He made that _see-how-clever-I-am_ face.

“No.” The Doctor smiled. “A whole lot more than just subspace. Subspace is too similar to normal space, traveling through it _can_ be faster but only to a certain degree and it’s limited to three dimensional travel.” He grinned and flailed his arms around. “But the Vortex! It’s the fifth dimension! It’s infinite in its possibilities. It’s compact, so the trip is almost instantaneous.” He twirled around in excitement. “You can go anywhere, literally.”

John could see Rodney’s head working. “Like a wormhole?” 

“Nononono,” He circled around Rodney then held and shook his head. “Open you mind! Much more than just a wormhole. Wormholes are limited to where they are created. They are fixed. The Vortex is everywhere and nowhere at the same time! It can take you anywhere, really anywhere in time and space!” He stopped just inches from Rodney’s nose.

Rodney narrowed his eyes. “But then you’re talking about four dimensional travel! T-t-that’s--"

“Amazing, yes!” 

“And incredibly dangerous!”

Rory nodded. “Tell me about it…”

“So, if this Vortex is smaller and more compact than normal space, then you exit normal space into it and when you leave it, you could end up anywhere, not just in space but in time too.” Rodney’s face lit up and almost matched the Doctor’s face.

“Exactly!”

“But that would require one hell of a navigational system. We’re not talking just galaxy, but the whole fabric of space-time. The calculations required would need one hell of a computer, not to mention power!”

The Doctor nodded smugly. “Exactly. And that’s my TARDIS. The only one left in existence.” He adjusted his tweed jacket. “And of course that’s also part of the problem.”

“Because you’ll need an external source to push back into the crack and into your universe.”

“Unless the crack is wide enough for the TARDIS to lock onto our universe and get pulled back. We can squeeze through and go back.”

Rodney narrowed his eyes. “How wide?”

The Doctor looked into the distance. “Not much, the TARDIS can squeeze through some very tiny gaps. Just not so small that only energy can get through.”

Rodney snapped his finger and pointed. “We can get your ship into the right place in the jumper, take some readings and see if we can do this.”

“If it’s wide enough, we’ll hop into the TARDIS and dematerialize through it.” He moved his hand across the air.

Rodney nodded and smiled. “Easy enough.”

The Doctor adjusted his bow tie. “Yes, of course.” 

#############

After the mission was approved by Woolsey, they all moved to Jumper 2 in order to take closer readings of the rift and determine exactly if they would be able to send the TARDIS’ crew back to their original universe. John was in the pilot seat prepping all the pre-flight controls while Rodney prepared the instruments he would need to take his readings. Teyla and Ronon were in their usual seats and the guests were hanging around, just watching. 

Except for the Doctor of course. “So, we got to make sure your ship can transmit the information back to the TARDIS and that she’ll be able to understand it. From what I can see all the readings taken using Ancient technology will be in their own language.”

Rodney nodded. “Our own computer translates it, but the information is originally in the Ancient programming code.”

The Doctor flung his screwdriver up then pointed it at the jumper’s screen. “I’ve probably gathered enough information to be able to give her a basis for translation.” He retracted the tool and looked pensive for a moment. He looked at his two companions. “Can you read it yet?”

Amy tilted her head while she focused on the words displayed in the HUD. “Yes, a few things. _Energy output_ , _Cloak_ … but some stuff is still alien.”

“Yeah. Give it time.” He narrowed his eyes as he also looked at the symbols. 

“But, Doctor, how can the TARDIS translate alien languages if you said she is dead? I mean, so to speak. Not literally.” Rory asked. 

“Well, the translation matrix uses a telepathic field and relies on my link with her to send and receive information to the listeners within a radius, which means that while she’s alive she can translate. It wouldn’t work only if she or I were somehow incapacitated.”

Rodney paused his work. “You said it was telepathic?”

“Oh, yes.” The Doctor turned to look at him. “She’s a living ship. She’s got a mind, a soul, personality… Time Lords are symbiotically linked to their TARDIS.”

“So that’s the energy I’ve been picking up?”

The Doctor grinned. “Most probably.” He turned around. “So, are we ready?”

“Yes, ready from my end,” Rodney said. He tapped his earpiece. “Radek?”

“All set. I’ll be monitoring everything from down here using the city sensors.”

John turned around to face the screen and tapped his comm. “Tower, this is Jumper 2 requesting permission for takeoff.”

“You’re cleared, Jumper 2,” Chuck’s voice came over the channel.

The hangar door began opening and John started to ascend the ship. Soon, reached orbit and the light blue sky gave way to the blackness of space.

“Wow, it’s quite a beautiful effect,” Rory said.

“Yeah,” Amy agreed. “Traveling in the TARDIS is so easy but we don’t get to see what it is like to actually have to fly in order to reach space.”

“We’re almost there,” Rodney said as he read his instruments. “Just a few degrees north…”

“Yes, Rodney, I can actually remember where I found it.”

“Okay, we’re getting something now.” Rodney immersed himself in the numerous screens around him. “Huh…”

“What’s huh, Rodney?” John asked.

The Doctor hummed as well.

“Is that a good huh or a bad huh?” Amy asked. 

“Well,” the Doctor started. “It seems the rift is a bit unstable.”

“Can we jump through it?” she asked.

“Yes, but we’ll have to be quick.”

“Not to mention lucky,” Rodney added. 

“Yes, which is why we need to hop back into the TARDIS.” The Doctor clapped his hands and started motioning Amy and Rory to the rear of the jumper.

John put the jumper on auto pilot and ordered it to keep a stable orbit then looked back to watch since he was more than a little curious to know more about that ship. The rest of his team was also watching. The Doctor noticed the curiosity and smiled smugly. 

He clapped both hands and rubbed them together. “Well, wish us luck.” He twirled around and snapped his fingers, making both doors of the phone box promptly open and reveal an entire control room inside it. Both John and Rodney got up from their seats and stepped forward to get a better look. Amy and Rory strolled inside followed by the Doctor. Rodney stopped by the doorway openmouthed. John stepped a bit to the right and touched the side of the ship, making sure it was just a box on the outside then peaked on the inside where the Doctor twirled and danced around the consoles in a huge control room. 

“How?”

The Doctor turned at them and grinned. “You can walk inside if you want.”

John walked several steps in, looking around the darkened interior of the ship.

“How can it be bigger on the inside?” Rodney asked, perplexed.

The Doctor was still smiling. “It just is.” 

“But how?”

“The TARDIS is dimensionally transcendental. To put simply, it’s in another dimension so the inside can fit in the outside. Like in Harry Potter. Yes? Their tent in the last movie? Do you have that movie here?”

John nodded. “Cool.”

The Doctor turned around and began trying his darkened controls. 

“Come on, dear. You can find it,” he whispered. 

He looked up at the screen. “Aha! There it is. I knew you could do it. Oh, no! Hang on!”

At that moment, the ship shook violently and all of them suddenly found themselves on the floor. It continued to quiver and shake, making it difficult for Rodney and John to get out into the jumper and find out what was going on.

“Out! Both of you out! The rift is very unstable!” The Doctor appeared to be hanging on to something, but John wasn’t really paying attention since he was busy trying not to be tossed around. 

He made it to the jumper and walked on a wobbly floor back to his seat. The controls were stiff and refused to obey his mental command and it was only after much jostling and cajoling that he was able to turn the ship around. He heard a wheezing sound coming from the rear section and turned briefly to see the TARDIS starting to fade away. The sound it made it appear not to be in the best of health. When John glanced around again he saw it still solid and grounded. 

“Rodney!”

“I know, I know! The rift is totally unstable. It won’t stay put for long.”

John opened the comm. “This is Jumper 2, TARDIS, do you read?”

“Yep, still here!” came the Doctor’s voice.

“You’d better go now! It’s going to close at any second!” Rodney yelled.

“I know! I’m trying! It’s not wide enough, it’s too unstable!” John heard some grunts and yells on the other side. “Hold on!”

John was still trying to make the Jumper cooperate but wasn’t being very successful. The controls suddenly flew away from his hands and the last thing he saw was the console getting farther away and then way too close. 

++++++++++++++

 _Ouch_. That was the first thing that came to mind. John made a mental check to make sure that he was still in one piece and was surprised to find out that he was. Some bruises, a lot of them hurting a lot but nothing appeared broken. 

That was, until he tried to push away from the console plastered on his face. He hissed and groaned until he found the back of his seat and slowly opened his eyes. Light shone through them and made his head spike with pain. He squeezed his eyes and turned his head away. Other senses slowly started to register, the hiss of controls, some sparking going on behind him, broken glass being smashed and a jumble of voices. 

“John?” A gentle touch on his shoulder reached him at the same time as Teyla’s voice.

“What happened?” he croaked. 

“It appears we have crashed.”

John frowned at that statement and discovered that also made his head twinge a bit. He sensed something sticky on his forehead as he tried to open his eyes again.

“What?” he muttered.

He saw clear blue skies beyond the windshield and a mess of controls all over the panel, some of the glass stained with blood. He reached up and instantly reacted when his hand touched his forehead.

He closed his eyes and turned away from the direct light. 

“We need to clean that,” Teyla said.

John opened his eyes again and saw her lowering herself to get the medkit.

“How are the others?” he asked as he started looking around.

Rodney was in the rear section complaining about giant bruises and a jumper that would never take flight again while Ronon stood near the bulkhead with an obvious dislocated shoulder. The TARDIS was still onboard, her doors open and smoke coming out of it.

“No one was gravely injured,” Teyla answered. “Ronon has a dislocated shoulder.”

John nodded. 

“Everybody all right?” the Doctor asked as he exited his ship, coughing and waving his hands around to blow the smoke away.

“No!” Rodney responded.

Amy and Rory followed and took in the state of the jumper.

“Wow,” she said.

“Anyone hurt?” Rory asked.

A loud grunt came from the back and John knew that was Ronon resetting his shoulder. 

“I hate it when he does that,” John said.

“C-can I have a look at that?”

John looked up and saw Rory standing near him.

“I’m a nurse,” he explained. 

“I think he may have a concussion,” Teyla said as she sat in the co-pilot’s seat and put the first aid kit on her lap.

Rory leaned closer to take a look at the injury. “You’re going to need stitches.” He looked at Teyla.

“This jumper was not equipped for an away mission. We only have a basic aid kit.” She showed it to him.

“We’ll have to make do then,” Rory said as he put himself to work.

“On that note,” John started. “What the hell happened, Rodney?”

“Trying to find out!” he yelled from the back. “We may have slipped away to somewhere.”

“Where?” John tried not to move too much while Rory bandaged him.

“Wherever that rift went to!”

“It was a bit unstable,” the Doctor added.

“Yes, just a tiny bit,” Amy said.

“We need to determine in which universe we are.” The Doctor came to the front section and looked out of the window. “Planet, blue sky, probably Earth like atmosphere, one normal looking yellow sun, warm temperature judging from the vast plant life and forests… a few birds, insects. It looks nice, actually.” He smiled and turned around, his hands in a constant state of flailing. “The TARDIS is still refusing to power up and is having a hissy fit, which most probably indicates she still doesn’t really like the place… I’d say we’re still in your universe.” He pointed up. “My theory is that the rift jumped. It was too unstable then we began trying to squeeze through pumping energy and information. It probably accelerated a process which was going to happen sooner or later.”

“And how do you know that?” Rodney asked condescendingly. 

“It’s a rift in time and space. And not limited to one universe or dimension. What usually happens is that one end of a rift is stationary while the other end jumps around the universe sucking things through. Like the rift in…” The Doctor suddenly stopped.

“Doctor?” Amy asked.

“Amy… what were we doing when we ended up in this universe?”

She shrugged. “We were having some tea.”

“Nonono, why were we doing that?”

“Because… we had spent the day fueling the TARDIS in Cardiff…” she said slowly.

“Yes, but we were not in Cardiff when it happened.” Rory turned his head to look at them.

“No, we were hanging in the Time Vortex.” The Doctor turned around, shoulders hunched and both hands joined together. “Maybe… we were caught in the stream when the rift jumped to this universe.” He started pacing around. “We had just left a few minutes before that… I can’t believe I haven’t made the connection until now. Oh, stupid!” He hit his own head with the palm of his hand. “Of course!”

Amy stepped forward. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

The Doctor smiled. “We don’t need to force our way out of this universe! We just need to hang close and the rift will do the rest of the job!” He twirled around to look at John. “You were really lucky you weren’t sent back to Cardiff… the rift would close up on this end and you’d be trapped!”

“Oh, lucky us,” Rodney said not really feeling the enthusiasm. 

“But where is it now?” The Doctor jumped over some debris to the back of the jumper. “If we’re lucky, it must be still hanging around nearby.” He entered his ship, arms and hands waving around. “The TARDIS should be able to locate it if it’s close enough.”

“There you are,” Rory said as he finished patching John up. “It’s not too bad but it’s a big cut, so make sure not to hit your head again and be careful with abrupt moves.” He smiled.

“I’ll remember that,” John said.

“Aha!” came the Doctor’s voice from inside the TARDIS. His head soon popped out of the door. “It’s just a bit above us.” He stepped out. “The reason your ship crashed.” He pointed at John. “Banging around, pilot out of the picture than wham!”

Rodney popped into view with a tablet in hand. “A bit above us, huh? And how do you suggest we get your ship there? This jumper is just a bit beyond hopeless!”

“Does this planet have a gate?” John asked.

Rodney turned to him. “How am I supposed to know that? What am I? A psychic? We’ve got no power to know that!”

“What do we have?”

Rodney puffed.

“Rodney!”

“I haven’t finished accessing the situation but the big pile of broken crystals and a smashed console is a big enough clue.”

“What about the DHD?” John asked. 

“What use would that be without a gate?” Rodney waved the tabled around.

“If it’s working then it’ll be able to tell us if the planet has a gate.”

“Okay, two things.” Rodney lifted two fingers. “One, the if part. _If_ it is working! Two, what if the gate is in space? How can we reach it then, huh?”

“Well, one, you’ll make it work and two, if you get us communications back we can call Atlantis to send a rescue team.”

“There you go with the if again.” He stepped into the front section of the jumper. “What if there is no gate on this planet? What then?”

“Just stay positive, Rodney. Besides, Atlantis will be looking for us.”

Rodney puffed. “How lucky they’ll only have to search the whole galaxy.”

The Doctor lifted a finger. “ _If_ we are still in the same galaxy.” When all eyes turned to him, he continued. “Sorry. Keep positive you said.”

“Yes. Rodney will get us out of here.”

Rodney gave John a look then walked to the back and got to work.

The Doctor stepped closer to John. “What is a gate?”

“Stargate.” John adjusted himself on the seat. “There is a network of stargates spread throughout the galaxy. They are able to establish a stable artificial wormhole allowing quick travel between the planets of this and other galaxies were stargates exist.” John looked at the Doctor who had sat down. “You only need to dial the correct address using a DHD.” John indicated the device. 

“A set of coordinates.” The Doctor stood and walked towards it. “And these symbols, they are constellations!” 

John nodded. “Yes, you need a combination of six to form an address, plus one for the point of origin which is unique for each gate. If you are traveling too far off like to another galaxy, then you’ll need extra symbols to account for the distance. Like an area code.”

The Doctor’s face lit up. “And these Ancients created them?”

“Yep. They were pretty smart.”

The Doctor chuckled. “A whole network of stargates… all forming a large system of freeways between planets and galaxies.” He nodded. “They must have been a great civilization.”

John smiled. “And they colonized and seeded several planets with human life.” 

“Were they humans too?” The Doctor sat on the co-pilot’s seat and leaned forward.

“Well, pretty much… a bit more advanced as they got closer to ascension.” 

“What happened to them? Did all of them ascend?” 

John looked at the Doctor, remembering what he had said in the infirmary and understanding why he wanted to know it. “No,” he said. “Most of them died in the war against the Wraith.”

John saw the look on the Doctor’s face as he nodded. The Doctor looked out through the windshield and into the distance. “My people were killed in a war too… A long time ago.” There was a pause. He then looked back inside at John and gave a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. 

John wanted to know how the Doctor had survived and kept going, but his look of sorrow had told him it wouldn’t have been the best question. He also wanted to know what kind of enemy could destroy a civilization as advanced as the Time Lords’, but then, many people could wonder the same thing about the Ancients. 

“Well… better get to work,” the Doctor said as he got up.

John got up as well and tried to brace himself on the wall that was a bit farther away than he thought when a wave of dizziness hit him. Teyla was by his side in a second.

“John,” she started.

John knew what that tone of voice meant. “I’m okay.” He let go of the wall and put on a confident face when he didn’t face plant on the floor. He stepped to the rear section, feeling Teyla’s constant presence behind him. “What say we go take a look around while the geniuses work?”

Ronon, who was already by the hatch, twirled his gun and reholstered it. John took that cue as a yes and lowered the rear hatch while he reached for his P90. Sun warmed up his face and made him blink and look away. He reached for his sunglasses and put them on, glad they hadn’t broken in the crash. They stepped out, taking in the landscape that looked the same as the vast majority of the planets they visited. 

John could see the small crater caused by the crash in the middle of the forest and the dirt path the jumper had formed on the way down. It hadn’t been his best crash landing but then he didn’t even remember the crashing part. Considering everything, they had been really lucky as the trees had eased the jumper down.

“All right, boys and girls. Let’s establish a perimeter around. Ronon you take north to west, Teyla and I will take south to east.” John looked behind at Amy and Rory who had followed them out. “You two stay put. We don’t know what kind of dangerous wildlife this world has. If anything happens you hurry inside and pull that lever there to close the hatch.” John used his weapon to point at it. 

She nodded. “Okay.” She looked at Rory, both of them soon starting to look around with smiles plastered on their faces.

“Keep in radio contact,” John said as he turned to look at Ronon who nodded and walked away to his side.

The forest was dense and difficult to walk through indicating it wasn’t explored often. John didn’t find any paths, roads or any sign that any civilization lived nearby which wasn’t exactly the best sign. There were many unexplored or uninhabited planets that still had a gate, but they usually had a reason for it. So far nothing dangerous had been reported but John still had a feeling in his gut that he couldn’t shake off. He had seen birds, but not as many as he would have expect to be living in a jungle and so far no small animals. 

“You shouldn’t be exerting yourself, John.” 

John looked behind at Teyla who was using a knife to clear her way. “I’m fine. It’s just a small cut.”

“With symptoms of a concussion.”

“I’ve had worse.” John walked over a bush and a large tree fallen on the ground holding on to his surroundings when the world tilted slightly. It ruined the effect of his assurance. 

Teyla looked at him.

“Really, I’m fine.” He continued walking. 

“It is strange we have not found any animal life besides a few birds,” Teyla commented.

“Yeah, I was thinking the same.” He looked up at a small patch of sky that was visible. “Maybe there’s something in this planet that animals don’t like.”

“The sun perhaps?” She walked around the shrubbery. “The plant life does seem to be--” She froze. 

“Teyla?”

Her face changed to a look John knew all too well. “Crap.”

“I do not know how I haven’t felt them before.”

“You sure?”

“Yes. Many, and they are very close. We must head back immediately and warn the others.”

John turned around and started his way back, going for his earpiece to contact Ronon but froze midstride when he heard a brush of leaves. It continued coming from nearby so he lifted a fist and lowered behind a log. He narrowed his eyes trying to pinpoint the location. Teyla pointed to the left and John agreed. They waited for a few moments until a flash of white hair made their hearts race. John glanced at Teyla and saw her dark look. She raised four fingers. John looked at the direction where the wraith were coming from and confirmed her guess. They were heading towards the jumper, probably having detected their crash. 

John decided to wait until they were closer and take them by surprise. If the wraith already knew the jumper had crashed it would just be a matter of time before they found the team and John thought it was best to attack first rather than wait and be attacked. He signaled his plan to Teyla who nodded in agreement. 

A minute later, the forest erupted with their weapons fire and the four drones were down before they had time to raise their stunners. 

“McKay to Sheppard! What the hell was that?” Rodney yelled through the radio.

John tapped his earpiece to respond. “Ronon head back to the jumper immediately, Rodney make sure everybody is in then close the hatch until we arrive. There are wraith in the planet. Sheppard out.” 

+++++++++++++++++++

John entered the jumper and closed the hatch behind him. Ronon was already inside, blaster out.

“How many?” Ronon asked.

Teyla stepped forward. “Many. Perhaps a hive.”

“Oh, crap,” came Rodney’s somber voice. “Of all the planets to crash… why did it have to be a wraith one?”

“How come you didn’t feel them before?” Ronon asked.

She shook her head. “I do not know, but now that I have sensed them I am sure. It is much fainter than it was in the forest though.” She narrowed her eyes.

“Okay, I take it that these wraith are bad,” Amy said as she stepped forward. 

“ _Very_ bad.” Rodney looked at her then at John. 

“Have you got anything?” John asked.

He shook his head. “N-no, I need more time to switch crystals around and work on a patch. I was trying to see if we can get sensors since you warned us about the wraith.”

“And?”

“Like I said, more time. And there is absolutely no hope for the cloak.”

John sat down. “Well, they were heading straight for the jumper, so I’m assuming they know we are here. The cloak wouldn’t be much use without being able to fly. We killed the advance scout party so more will be on their way when they don’t hear from them. We have bought a few minutes.”

“A few minutes!” Rodney screeched. “What do we do in a few minutes? We need a plan! I can’t fix the DHD in a few minutes!”

“How long do you need?”

“An hour at best!”

John looked at him. “Rodney…”

“I’m serious here, John!”

“With my help, less than that, but most of the work is manual,” the Doctor said. “Finding crystals that match the pathway needed to bring the right systems online. I can’t fix the broken ones.”

John nodded. “Okay, the jumper won’t hold much if we are attacked.”

“I say we hide in the forest. Ambush them,” Ronon cut in.

“A whole hive?” Rodney said condescendingly. 

Ronon shrugged. “I’ve done it before…”

“Well, I’m not Rambo.”

“What about your ship? Can we do something to power it up?” John asked the Doctor.

The Doctor shook his head. “Uh, no… even if we could, it’d need time. But we can hide in there. It’d be safe, they don’t know what it is. It’s not giving off energy and it’s shielded so they won’t detect any life signs onboard.”

“The wraith would dismiss a wooden box right away,” Rodney agreed. “They’ll probably think we hid in the forest, like Ronon said.”

“Yeah.” John stood up. “They’ll probably take the jumper onboard the hive…” he said as a plan began to form in his head. “We can wait till we are there then make it to the dart bay.”

“Oh, nonono.”

“Got a better plan?”

“It’s nothing we haven’t done before,” Ronon said. “Sheppard can pick us up in the dart then we make it for the gate.”

“Okay, nothing we haven’t done before, huh?” Rodney waved a hand around. “What about them?” He pointed at the three guests. “How do we send them back? How do we take the TARDIS to the location--" Rodney froze and John knew what that face meant.

John put his hands on his hips. “What’s your plan?”

Rodney smiled. “Okay, we can go with this plan. We steal a dart and you beam us up, including…” He pointed at the TARDIS. “It.” He waved at the trio. “With them inside it. Then you fly to the location of the rift and beam them out in midair. If what the Doctor said is right, they will be able to slip right back through before they reach the ground. Once in their universe, their ship will be able to fly again and take them to safety.”

John looked at the Doctor. “Doctor?”

He smiled. “Let’s do it!”

They all moved into the TARDIS taking some of the supplies they had in the jumper, some extra ammo, weapons and C4. After a few trips in and out, John still felt it was really weird to go through a door in a tiny telephone booth and end up inside a really cool spaceship that also managed to be a time machine. If what the Doctor said was true, that this could disguise itself as anything to blend in with the environment, it’d just be the coolest if it one day changed to the outer shape of a DeLorean. It was just too bad it was powered down. It’d look great if John could actually see the details all lit up before him. 

Rodney brought along his Ancient scanner and tablet, complaining that the lifesigns detector was too short range to detect approaching wraith. The Doctor then just trotted closer to him and used his sonic thing to increase its range significantly extracting a surprised look from Rodney. 

John smirked as Rodney gave him a dirty look. When he passed closer John couldn’t resist the opportunity to tease him.

“Don’t worry, if your plan works, he’ll soon be back to his own reality and you’ll go back to being the smartest man in the galaxy.”

Rodney’s mouth was slanted and John almost thought he wouldn’t answer to that remark, but he knew Rodney too well to hope that for more than a couple of milliseconds.

“ _If_? If my plan works?”

John grinned.

“ _When_ my plan works, Sheppard. When!”

“So, any wraith in the vicinity?” John asked trying to peak into the newly improved scanner.

“No, but it’s just a matter of time before there is. And since we got a mile radius reading in this thing, what say I go back to the jumper and continue repairs until they get here?”

John bit his lip, thinking for a moment. “Okay, but leave the door open and take Teyla with you. When she tells you to--"

“Do you think I’m suicidal?”

John nodded. “All right. I guess I’ll have to take a look in this cool spaceship all by myself then…”

Rodney suddenly raised his head. “D-do you really think he would…” He pointed up the stairs to the console where the Doctor was. 

John smiled.

“I want a tour too!”

“Well, Rodney, you said it yourself. Better keep working on the repairs. If you finish before the wraith arrive, we may be able to send an encrypted message to the Alpha Site and report our situation.” John wouldn’t risk dialing Atlantis from a wraith world. “And if you don’t, we’ll still be stuck in here while the wraith don’t move us into their hive.”

“Well, I just hope they do that instead of just blowing the jumper up.”

John shook his head. “They wouldn’t destroy a jumper before trying to gather some intel unless they are really very stupid.”

“They may try to gather the intel from here,” Teyla jumped in.

“What if they try to destroy this ship?” Ronon asked.

“Why would they do that?” Rodney asked condescendingly. 

“They could find out we came here…”

Rodney shook his head. “They can’t. I had some time to examine the ship from the outside back on Atlantis. If even _I_ couldn’t take any readings, surely the wraith won’t be able to. But I agree with Teyla, they could just leave it here.” He looked at John.

“Then, we’ll wait till the coast is clear to continue fixing the jumper or try to blow up some wraith. But meanwhile we have to stay put.”

They had waited for just a couple of minutes until the lifesigns detector told them more Wraith were coming. Rodney came back inside complaining that he had barely had enough time to get to the DHD much less fix anything. He was followed by Teyla, who seemed troubled. 

“What is it, Teyla?” John asked.

She narrowed her eyes and lost focus for a moment before responding. 

She shook her head. “I cannot feel their presence. I could feel them when I was outside with Rodney. It was very weak but present, but in here I feel nothing.”

“How exactly you feel their presence?” Rory asked.

“I have some wraith DNA. It allows me to tap into their telepathic network and feel their presence when they are closer.”

The Doctor jumped down the stairs. “Really? They are telepathic?” He looked up to the central console. John had seen Rodney thinking enough times to know the Doctor’s mind was working at a thousand miles an hour. “She must be blocking it.”

“What do you mean?” Teyla asked.

The Doctor looked at her. “Their telepathic network must be affecting her, so she must be blocking the signal.” He looked up the ship again, then back at them. “Tell me about them. The wraith. I’m assuming they are bad. Just how bad are they?”

“Bad,” came Ronon’s monosyllabic response.

“Yeah, we got that bit,” Amy said. 

“They are a race of creatures that are just naturally evil,” Rodney explained. “They feed on human vital energy in order to survive. For them, we are nothing more than food. Creepy as hell too.” His hands moved around as he spoke. “They treat planets like territories split between different factions. Every hundred years or so they go back to cull their herd using transport beams and destroying every village or town from orbit but leaving just enough survivors so the human population can grow again and have sufficient numbers in another hundred years’ time.” He looked at the Doctor. “There isn’t one planet in this galaxy that is not under their influence. The whole culture in Pegasus revolves around their presence.”

“The wraith are technologically advanced but don’t let any population from the galaxy reach any kind of scientific development,” John continued. “If any planet evolves to a certain point, they are completely destroyed. And so is every single inhabitant of any planet that goes into war with them.”

“Like my planet,” Ronon said. “We fought back. Now it’s gone. There’s only a couple hundred of us left, all spread throughout the galaxy.” 

“The war with the wraith is not for military or political reasons,” John said. “It’s the food chain. Humans are not at the top anymore. They need to feed and it so happens that we are the food they need. There cannot ever be peace between humans and wraith.”

“That’s horrible. We’re… food…” Rory looked at the Doctor who nodded.

“And they are not kind,” the Doctor said somber. “It’s no wonder she is blocking them out. She’s telepathic and can probably hear them talking. She mustn’t have liked what she felt.” 

The Doctor pressed his eyes with his fingers then climbed up the stairs and faced the part of the control that went up to the ceiling. He supported both hands on the console and looked down at the console, shoulders hunched. He whispered something but John couldn’t hear it. 

Amy approached him from behind. “Doctor, will it harm the TARDIS if we went aboard their ship?”

The Doctor turned around, his look worried. “I don’t know.” He shook his head. “But she’s not feeling well and not only because we in are in another universe. I thought it was strange, but now it makes sense. Why she hates this planet.” 

“Uh,” Rodney interrupted. “Then maybe you should know that wraith ships are organic. It’s kind of a living ship as well. I don’t know how sentient it is or if it is at all, but it definitely hurts, grows and repairs itself. It has an organic fluid running around in tubes and all.”

“We shouldn’t take her there. Not without power. We’re this far off from it and she’s already miserable. If we had energy I’d be able to risk it, but without it… I think it will hurt her.” 

“Darts are also organic. All wraith tech is,” John added.

“Okay, there goes that plan…” Rodney said. “What are they doing in this planet anyway?”

“That’s a good question,” John said. “They must be here for a reason.”

“And how exactly do you plan on finding that out?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.”

Rodney crossed his arms. “Of course not.” He rolled his eyes.

“Okay. We need a plan.” The Doctor lifted a finger. “We are probably sufficiently close to the rift to pick up some energy to refuel. The gap is small but we may get enough fuel for one trip.” 

“Enough for us to go back?” Amy asked.

“Maybe.” The Doctor looked at the team.

“Okay, so we stick to our original plan of trying to steal a dart to get back. We just need to hang around long enough for the TARDIS to be able to return.” John looked at the Doctor. “How long do you need?”

The Doctor resumed his walking around. “I dunno. Maybe a few hours.” He turned around with a lifted finger. “But what do we do about the wraith?” He supported himself on the console with a hand. “And how do we avoid the TARDIS being taken to their ship?” He started pacing around. “And how, how do we avoid becoming wraith supper?”

“Those are all very good questions,” John said.

“Yes! And look!” Rodney looked at his scanner then lifted it up and started waving it. “We have less than thirty minutes to figure out the answers.”

“Oookay,” the Doctor flailed his hands. “Okay! We should stay in the TARDIS. It’s the safest place there is. Nothing can get through those doors.” He turned around and paced. “But the problem is that they’ll probably try to take us back to their ship, or base, or headquarters and the TARDIS is queasy enough without some mean organic technology interfering with her.” He paced some more while words continued to burst out of his mouth. “Or maybe they’ll just hang around trying to find out where everybody is, in which case we’ll be surrounded and outnumbered. Then maybe they’ll figure out there’s something not right with the big blue box that is strangely parked inside an Ancient ship and will start poking around.” He stopped and twisted around to look at the team. “Okay, we may be a bit cornered here.”

“Okay, I got an idea,” John said while he went to the containers they had brought from the jumper. He opened one and grabbed a pack of C4. “We lay this out in the forest while we have time. We set up a defensible perimeter around the jumper to hold out until the TARDIS has enough power to get us _all_ out of here. We make a barricade concentrating on where the wraith will be coming from and try to keep them from getting too close. When they do, we defend the jumper with all the ammo we’ve got. After that, we retreat back to the TARDIS and we’ll have bought some time, hopefully enough to get the hell out of here. Meanwhile, Rodney and the Doctor keep working on the repairs in the jumper.”

“What!?” Rodney screeched. “We have what? Twenty-five minutes? How do you suppose--"

“That’s why we’re not wasting a minute arguing,” John settled. “That’s what we’re going to do and that’s final.”

Ronon promptly turned back to grab the container then walked out, followed by Teyla then John. 

“C’mon, McKay,” Ronon yelled from outside.

John heard Rodney’s exasperated sigh before he also followed.

The explosives were set forming a line in the most probable sites the wraith would use to approach the jumper, then a few more lines in locations they’d want to use to flank them once the firefight started. With John, Teyla and Ronon setting the charges, they were done just short of being spotted then retreated back to the covers that John had asked Rory to set up. Apparently he knew how to do that. Something to do with Romans and the London blitz. 

All the ammo was stocked, John, Teyla, Ronon and Rory were divided into two teams covering both sides of the jumper while Rodney and the Doctor worked on rerouting crystals to get the DHD working again.

John kept an eye on the enhanced scanner, wishing the Doctor could do the same with all the other ones. He always thought the limited radius made the scanner a bit useless in open combat situations. In addition, now the scanner could detect life signs in silent mode without that constant annoying beeping sound that kind of screamed their location to everyone around. They could be covert and detect anyone approaching from over a mile radius. They still couldn’t distinguish between different species, but maybe that would be asking for too much. Still, he could try asking the Doctor if he could apply that improvement. No harm in trying.

It didn’t take long for the wraith to cross the first mark and be blown to bits. The forest shook with the explosions, tree leaves fell and the few birds flew away. Six dots vanished from the scanner, but there were still another six approaching from the east. John mentally counted their steps then pressed the detonator again for the second round and again all the dots vanished. 

That would only alert them to send in more wraith, this time with larger numbers to try to surround them. They would get another shock from the flank positions and he still had one sequence of detonations near the covers just for that extra element of surprise. He had used up all the C4 they had in the jumper which hadn’t been equipped for an offworld mission involving wraith and had needed to ration them in strategic positions to squeeze all the juice he wished for, but in the end it appeared things would work out in their favor.

“Rodney, how are things in there?” John asked into his radio.

“Just peachy thanks,” he responded in his usual harsh manner. “I’m surprised you didn’t blow up the whole forest there, Rambo.”

John smirked. “Don’t worry, I still have a few more explosions up in my sleeve.”

“If we somehow manage to survive your C4, I doubt we will survive the wraith, but anyway repairs are ongoing. I need more than just a few minutes, you know. I’m not a miracle worker.”

“Oh, really? As far as I remember you were the one that said that.”

Rodney huffed. “Get off the radio. I’m busy!” He cut the channel off.

John rolled his eyes and looked at Teyla who was shaking her head. It was that very same shake she used with Torren. He wondered if that was a good thing or not. He shrugged.

“How’s your spidey sense?”

Teyla focused into the forest. “Present but weaker than normal. I am still able to sense their anger. They know we are here.” She looked at John. “They’ll send a full out attack against us.”

John nodded then clicked the radio for everyone to hear. “This is Sheppard. Stay sharp. Teyla said they’ll send a full out attack. Keep on shooting and try not to waste ammunition. Rodney, keep the rear hatch closed until further notice and make sure you have your P90 at hand in case you need it.” He really hoped Amy could handle a P90 in case they needed to defend themselves from incoming force in the jumper.

A familiar puff of indignation came from the channel. “That’s comforting, thanks. Just what I needed in order to keep working.”

“They’re coming,” Teyla said.

John continued into the radio. “Ronon, did you hear that?”

“Yep. I’m ready.”

“Make sure you don’t detonate too soon,” John reminded him.

“Don’t worry, Sheppard. Got my eye on the scanner.”

John nodded even though he knew Ronon couldn’t see it. “Copy that. Sheppard out.”

They waited for several minutes before a large group of life signs began popping up. John bit his lip. Teyla wasn’t kidding when she said a full out attack. He smirked. That probably meant that the wraith were finally learning that they needed a little more than the average sized battalion to fight them. Maybe John was doing something right after all.

Several more minutes later John prepared to detonate his last round of explosives. He counted silently, but still made sure Teyla knew when to brace herself since this one would be a bit closer then pressed the detonate button. Trees quivered and cracked, a rain of dirt, leaves and bark started coming down on them and a familiar buzzing in his ears told John he should start wearing earmuffs in times like this. He looked at the scanner and at the several dots that were still coming at them.

A few more of these dots disappeared when another quake and more trees falling over came from Ronon’s direction, soon followed by another round of explosions. Still, groups of wraith kept showing up on the scanner and John had to put it down because he was soon going to be within weapons range. He positioned himself behind the cover, ready to begin firing at the first sign of white wraith hair.

The loud burst of P90s took over the jungle followed by innumerous energy bursts of wraith stunners. The heavy foliage gave the wraith a lot of cover and John could already see that the firefight would last for as long as the ammo lasted, which in their case wouldn’t be much. Another explosion was heard and John knew that soon he would hear Ronon’s blaster joining in the battle. 

The acrid smoke of powder was invading the trench, mixed with the ozone from the stunner discharges, each one closer than the next. John dove for cover, his left ear buzzing with the near hit. He cursed under his breath and saw Teyla wide eyed after evading a blast herself. He glanced at the discarded scanner and saw dots disappearing, but a whole line of more dots approaching fast. Ronon and Rory appeared to be holding the fort as well, but were in no better condition. 

Another rapid succession of fire and two more drones dropped. One of them managed to get up again, but didn’t stay like that for long after Teyla hit it with a few more well placed bullets. John ducked again and quickly discarded the empty clip changing it to a new one. He kept on firing, counting the wraith and the bullets, keeping a mental score and trying to save ammo. Teyla was doing the same but as fewer wraith were left standing, the task became less difficult. All remaining wraith were behind a cover taking what opportunities they found to try and get a shot in, John and Teyla doing the same. 

He glanced at her and indicated two targets at two o’clock while he took the ones at ten and eleven. When she ducked after the click of an empty clip, John stretched a bit higher as he continued to fire at his two opponents, hoping it’d give room for him to become a target. Teyla’s wraith saw the small gap and took on the opportunity to get a shot at him but by then Teyla had another clip ready and dove to the side as she shot two rapid sprays, taking both out at the same time. 

Now it was John’s time to run out of ammo and he purposely took a little longer to resume firing. Teyla feinted an empty clip and lowered herself behind the cover, giving the wraith an opportunity to fire. John repeated Teyla’s move from earlier and dove to the side, taking one of them out and injuring the other. John crawled back to cover under heavy stunner blast, but another burst from Teyla soon took the last wraith out of the picture too. 

John narrowed his eyes as the sounds of battle died off into the distance but a persistent buzzing kept getting louder and louder. He looked at Teyla who also showed the same face of recognition. 

“Oh, crap.”

He looked up to the sky but through the tree tops couldn’t see much other than the big blue blur of a sky with some whites thrown in. He scurried to his feet, tapping his comm at the same time he began running back to the jumper. 

“Ronon, we’ve got darts incoming. Fall back to the jumper.”

“We still got wraith,” he replied. John could hear the sound of energy blasts and P90 fire coming from Ronon’s general direction as well as the open channel. 

“It won’t matter if you’re picked up by their beams! Use the grenades for cover!” John yelled into the radio to be heard above the noise of the incoming enemy ships.

Ronon growled and John knew him well enough to know it meant he had copied the message. John raced at full speed and glanced backwards, cursing when he saw the dark shadow of a dart dangerously close to them. They were soon coming up to the clearing the jumper had caused in the jungle and John knew they’d be sitting ducks there. He veered to the right, intending to stay under the protection of the trees for as long as possible.

The sound of a grenade explosion told John that Ronon and Rory were also on their way back.

“Rodney, open the rear hatch!” John shouted at his earpiece.

“How close are you?” he answered back, panic in his voice.

“Just do it!”

John glanced at Teyla who nodded in turn, ready to enter the open space and run like hell. The screech of the darts nearly deafened him and he didn’t even have time to say _‘oh, crap’_ before he was enveloped by white light. 

*********************

John moaned as consciousness came back to him. The tingling all around his body and the smell of wraith toilet already told him everything he needed to know before he tried to open his eyes. That was just what he needed. He opened his eyes. Imprisoned by wraith again.

He turned his head around at the sound of Teyla, Ronon and Rory also waking up. He forced himself to a sitting position and stared beyond the gooey web of the wraith cell then back inside. At least they were together. And the fact that Rodney wasn’t there was the sign that the others had been able to hide in the TARDIS and luckily be totally ignored by the wraith.

“Everyone all right?” John asked.

“Yeah,” came Ronon’s rough voice. 

“Yes, it appears so.” 

John got up and walked closer to the bars. 

“What is this place?” Rory asked. “And what was that white light?”

“Dart,” Ronon answered.

“We were picked up by a wraith dart and taken inside their base. That light was the beam they use to transport and store their food supply until they reach the hive ship,” Teyla explained.

John turned around. “We’ll probably be taken to see the queen pretty soon. Then we’ll be questioned and forced to our knees with some forceful mind control thing they love using.”

“Great,” Rory said with fake enthusiasm. 

“Well,” John started. “The good news is that we managed to get inside their base. The bad news is that we are probably on the menu and just in time for dinner. Now we only have to get the hell out of this cell and look for the dart bay.”

“Oh, just.” Rory looked around. “And here’s me thinking we were in trouble.”

“Don’t worry. We’re used to situations like this. Always make it out of it alive,” John assured him.

Rory nodded. “Yeah, me too actually.” He huffed. “Though I do not always make it out alive.” He chuckled. 

John narrowed his eyes.

“Long story.” 

John nodded. 

“Okay, so we just have to wait for the Doctor,” Rory said. “He’ll probably show up at any second now and save our lives like he always does.” He looked up and paused, as if expecting for just that to happen. “Or maybe in a while. He’s quite often a bit late.” He looked back at John. “He’ll think of something.”

“Well, let’s hope he’s not too late.” John looked at Ronon. “Got any of your knives there?”

“Already looked.” He seemed really pissed at the fact that they had found all of them. 

John raised an eyebrow. “Even the ones in the hair?”

Ronon threw him a look that showed just how unhappy he was for that and just how much the wraith would pay for finally have gotten smart about dealing with him.

“Uh,” Teyla interrupted. “Maybe the wraith have perfected the system in which the beam would strip victims of any weaponry. We know they have been testing it.”

That actually made sense. 

“Okay, we found out something new. I was just thinking of a way to try and figure out that information myself, but being captured wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. I was more thinking of maybe asking our moles in the worshipper crowd.” 

“Okay,” Rory said. “So… we wait.”

“Looks like that, yeah.”

=====================

John sighed. It had been well over an hour and they were still sitting around in the cell. Ronon was past getting impatient while Teyla tried talking him out of punching and kicking the bars until he finally gave up with a wild growl. 

The sound of heavy footsteps came from the corridor making everyone snap to attention and stand up. Six big wraith drones stopped before them and made the webbing melt away to open the cell. They raised their large stunners at them, signaling everyone to get out. John looked back at the others before shrugging and stepping into the corridor, muscles ready for action. He glanced around the corridor and mentally groaned when he saw another group of six wraith waiting just a little farther ahead. He threw a look at Ronon and Teyla who returned it with the same faces of frustration. 

They were taken to the queen’s chamber where she was already waiting, hissing and sitting in her chair, playing with Ronon’s gun. They were guided to the center of the chamber, still several meters away from her. 

“This weapon has killed many of my kind,” she said while still looking at it. “Maybe hundreds.” She looked up. “How good it will look in my collection.” She waved at the walls where dozens of weapons hang decorating the chamber. There were knives, swords, Genii handguns and a couple of triple-barrel shotguns. “I shall place it in a position of honor.” She smiled. “The queen who captured the most wanted group of humans in the galaxy.”

“I wouldn’t go boasting just yet,” John advised. 

She stood, laid the gun on the chair and walked towards them. “I found your useless ship and your failed attempt at fixing it.” She smiled. “Did you really think you could take down a whole hive with just the four of you?”

John smirked. “We’ve done it before. Lots of times actually.” He shrugged. “It’s not so difficult, really.”

“You are really not in the position to brag.” She circled him until she was facing him again. “Kneel.”

John closed his hands to fists and squeezed his eyes shut as the mental command invaded his brain. He resisted as hard as he could but his knees finally gave in after several seconds. He panted and looked up, seeing her sneer as her hand approached his head. 

She traced his face with a finger. “The stories _are_ true.” She grabbed his chin and lifted his face. “You are a strong one. I shall enjoy breaking your will.”

John would have come up with a smartass remark but he was too busy having his mind crushed to think of anything. He heard grunts and groans from Ronon, Teyla and Rory, probably being held in place by drones. 

“On whom shall I feast first?” She hissed. “The leader?” She looked down at him, her hand lowering and coming dangerously close to his chest. John’s breath came in heavy pants as she continued to move closer. “Or maybe the runner and savor that delicious strength that has managed to elude the wraith for so many years.” Her face came nearer to his. “Or perhaps the woman and make all the men watch as she screams in agony.” 

She ripped his vest and shirt open with her nail drawing a bloody line from neck to chest. John hissed in pain as his body shook trying to resist her attempts of entering his mind. A roar of noise took over his brain, muffling all sounds around him. In the background John thought he heard yelling and shouting. She drew back her hand and slammed it on his chest, pain piercing his skin down to his soul as he felt the rush of the enzyme take over his body. And as fast as it started, it stopped, a mere few seconds of agony later. He slumped forward but managed to stay upwards. 

As the rush in his ears cleared, John started to hear a sort of wheezing sound getting louder and louder until a big blue box appeared right in the middle of the chamber. 

“What is the meaning of this?” The queen demanded, fury in her voice. 

The door opened and the Doctor strolled out of the TARDIS, Amy and Rodney behind, all unarmed. 

“Hello there!” the Doctor said in his usual cheerful manner. “Am I interrupting something?” He walked dangerously close to the queen. “I’m the Doctor, nice to meet you. Oh, and excuse me for not shaking hands.” He paced around, attentive to all details. 

“What is the meaning of this insolence?”

“Oh, you know, managed to refuel my ship and thought I’d give it a stroll and… I dunno, maybe pop into your little secret meeting.” He turned a full 360 degrees. “Interesting decoration, by the way. All sort of gooey alien ship. Not really my thing, but if it strikes your fancy.” He stopped by a wall. “How does it work though?” He took his sonic screwdriver and waved it around, taking a look at the readings. “Self growing.” He nodded. “A whole organic entity you have there.”

“Who are you?” The queen took a hand to her head and lowering it for a moment. “What have you done to us?”

“I just happen to also have a living ship, except mine is infinitely smarter and better than yours. She also happens to be telepathic. I just told her to disrupt your entire psychic network.” He stepped closer to the queen. “So don’t bother to try and call some reinforcements because they won’t listen. I’m also disrupting any kind of communication system just in case you try the old press a button to talk thing.” He stopped inches from her and looked up into her eyes. 

She raised a hand. “Kneel before your queen!” she commanded.

The Doctor remained where he stood. “Is that supposed to be intimidating? Oh, that was a mental command wasn’t it? Sorry, it won’t work on me. My mind is too powerful. Besides, disrupting your psychic flow, remember?”

John managed to climb to his feet. “I assume you have a plan?”

“Getting to that. So, like I said. I am the Doctor. Of course no one in your universe knows who I am, but if you lived in my universe you would be running away right now.” His voice turned dark in the last part. “And as the Doctor I always give people a choice. You can let my friends go or I’ll make you.”

The queen sneered. “And how do you plan on doing that?” 

“I don’t think you really want to know.” He stepped closer and stood mere inches from her. “So, last chance. Take it and we’ll leave in peace. If you don’t… what’s coming will be your own doing.” All the lively energy drained from his place and was replaced by a dark look he didn’t think he would ever see in the Doctor’s face.

She chuckled. “I think I’ll pass on your proposal.”

“Very well.” The Doctor glanced at John then at each one of the others being held by the drones. He snapped around, screwdriver pointing towards her chair. It hissed and popped, alarms began to blare and the lights began blinking. A red burst of energy cut the air and hit the queen dead on her chest while the screwdrivers green light flashed towards the drones. John looked back and saw Ronon, Teyla and Rory struggling to release themselves from the clutches of the drones. More blasts from Ronon’s gun shot at them. John snapped his head around and saw Amy firing, several of her shots hitting the mark and making wraith drop. 

“Run!” the Doctor shouted as he stepped backwards towards the TARDIS, screwdriver waving at the walls. 

John punched the drone holding Teyla up against a wall but it didn’t even twitch. Ronon joined in and pushed it away, stance ready for a fight. Ronon grabbed a sword from the wall and went in for a slash while John helped Teyla up.

They all scrambled back to the TARDIS and shut the door, the Doctor rushing to the console and quickly pushing buttons and levers. It shook violently and John could hear the sound of explosions going on outside. The noise suddenly vanished as the same wheezing sound from before made the entire ship shake and tremble until it settled down into silence. 

The Doctor let out an exhilarated breath. 

“What did you do?” Rodney asked. “How did you--"

The Doctor grinned as he jumped down the steps. “I just blocked the flow of controlling fluid in the main commands of her chair then used the link to reverse the energy output in the entire ship,” he said smugly.

“Yes, but--” Rodney’s face lit up. “Oh…”

“That’s right.”

“What?” John asked.

“He blew up their whole ship.” Rodney said disbelievingly. 

The Doctor threw his screwdriver up then twirled it in his fingers and put it back in his pocket.

“So where are we?” John asked.

“Just by the stargate.” He sauntered up the stairs. “I can hack into its controls and dial the address to send you back home. You’ll just have to step through. We’ll stay and hop back into our universe.” He grabbed a screen and pushed it around to a console then began tapping some keys. “There you go. Would you mind imputing the coordinates?”

“Oh, okay,” Rodney said as he went up the stairs. 

John followed him to see the console of the ship. It was stranger than anything he had ever seen before. It had all sorts of weird looking buttons and handles, some knobs and switches and even a tap. It looked like it had been cobbled together with some random stuff thrown in for good measure, except for the fact that it looked prime and shiny. Everything was lit up with colorful lights, making funny noises with a few things moved around. They stopped by an old-fashioned typewriter where Rodney began typing the address of the Alpha Site. When he finished, the Doctor pressed enter and the screen showed a space gate activating. He then pressed a few more commands and if it wasn’t for the screen, John wouldn’t have known they had moved.

The Doctor jumped down the stairs and opened the doors of the TARDIS, showing the event horizon a few inches away from the ship. “You can step through. And don’t worry, I’ve extended the air shell.”

The door was too small for everyone to look through, but John managed to see actual space outside the ship. The Doctor waved a hand outside and revealed there wasn’t any force field holding in the air. 

“How…” Rodney started.

“Complicated,” the Doctor answered. “Now, if you please. We don’t know how long that rift has before it jumps away again.” 

John nodded. “Well, doc. Thanks for the rescue. I’d be wraith dinner if it wasn’t for you.” John’s shirt was still ripped open, blood oozing from the feeding mark. “Fortunately, you arrived just before she starting sucking anything out of me.” 

“You are welcome. Thanks for helping us out.”

“You sure you don’t wanna hang around, blow up some more wraith ships?”

The Doctor chuckled. “I wish I could help out, but if we miss this lift we might never get back.”

John nodded and offered a hand which the Doctor took. 

The Doctor touched his forehead with two fingers in a mock salute. 

John looked back at his team. “Let’s go kids.”

**The End**


End file.
